Lawyer tied to scam wants license back

Attorney H. Jack Pytel, shown after his arrest by the FBI in October 2002, was sentenced to nine months in prison followed by two years of federal supervision for his role in a City Hall corruption scandal that also saw two councilmen sentenced to prison.

Attorney H. Jack Pytel, shown after his arrest by the FBI in...

A San Antonio lawyer disbarred for his participation in a wide-ranging corruption scandal at City Hall a decade ago is fighting to get his law license back.

A who's who of judges, lawyers and even public officials lined up to testify this week on behalf of H. Jack Pytel during a hearing in front of state District Judge Larry Noll that may wrap up Thursday.

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“I've known Jack for a long time,” former Congressman Charlie Gonzalez told the San Antonio Express-News as he waited outside Noll's court for his turn on the stand.

Ahead of Gonzalez was state District Judge Sid Harle, who wrote a letter supporting Pytel when Pytel faced sentencing in 2005 in federal court.

Harle testified this week that Pytel was going through a series of personal challenges that clouded his judgment, including the death of his father, a bitter divorce and a car crash that seriously injured his daughter.

“I was shocked by the allegations,” Harle said.

Pytel was sentenced to nine months in prison followed by two years of federal supervision. He was snared by Peter Estevez, a businessman who defrauded the city in a series of real estate scams and, when he was caught, helped the FBI build a bribery case against then-City Councilmen Enrique “Kike” Martin and John Sanders.

The feds lauded Estevez as the linchpin for helping spur a round of reforms, including tighter caps on campaign contributions at City Hall.

A separate state case snared more elected officials and reached beyond the City Council into school and college districts, but the federal prosecution dramatically captured the haggling and payments on tape — thanks to Estevez.

Acting as the fast-talking middleman, Estevez secretly recorded Pytel and another then-lawyer, Juan Peña, as they plotted to win a contract to collect unpaid parking tickets and other municipal fines.

To ensure that Peña's firm would win the contract, Estevez delivered on the lawyers' behalf a total of $12,000 in cash — bankrolled by Peña — to Sanders and Martin.

Estevez was sentenced to five years of probation, while Sanders got 15 months in prison, Martin got 13 months and Peña received 30 months.

The Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, the state bar's disciplinary arm, has said any lawyer who gets a sentence of one day or more in prison for a felony faces disbarment for five years from the end of the sentence. Then they must reapply to get their license back and can face a court fight, as Pytel currently is.